Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Blackburns come to Bella Vista!

It used to be a regular occasion for our friend Walter and Deborah to come visit us in Bella Vista. But as both our kids get older, we get busier and we don't get to see them as much as we used to. That's why we were so excited they came and stayed with us for the weekend!

 We took them to Crystal Bridges!





 We had a lovely dinner at Eleven that night with the Beards too!





 The next morning, we all went to the Bentonville Farmers Market!

Then we had lunch at Flying Fish. It was SO yummy! Thanks again Walter and Deborah for coming to visit! Hope to have you again soon!

Ruby's 4th birthay party!

A few weeks ago, we celebrated our friends Brandon and Susan's daughter Ruby's 4th birthday!



 Susan made the super cute Veggie Tales cakes!



Happy birthday Ruby!

VBS 2012!

Vacation Bible School at CUMC 2012!

This year was the first year I volunteered to be a leader at VBS! Elise and I lead the preschool music kiddos and we had a lot of fun! But I was singing those songs in my sleep that week! ;)


 Teaching songs and dance moves to preschoolers is a workout! 

Andrew LOVED the VBS music and still sings the songs and does all the dance moves!

 Christian had fun in his elementary age crew this year! He liked the science experiments!


The last day of VBS we had a picnic on the front lawn of the church. Brianna rode to VBS with us a couple times that week and they all had a great time!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Twilight Camp!

 Christian attended his first Cub Scout Twilight Camp last month! It was a four day evening camp that events were held from 5:30 to 9:00 each night. So no overnight camping but he still got to participate in the games that many of the far off three day overnight camps organize.

Christian tried archery for the first time! It was a little different since he was left handed but he got the hang of it and enjoyed it!

 Each night, they would do a craft. He made a rain stick!

 One of the rotations was water games, which was good because it was warm outside!

 They had to walk with a sponge on their head and drop it in the bucket then turn around and pass it to the next person!

 One evening, Christian and I went to Station Cafe for dinner before camp. It was yummy!

Another night, Christian build a birdhouse! He did a great job!
We were lucky we had good weather and it was not too hot yet the week of camp. Jim and I took turns volunteering as walking den leaders each evening.Christian had lots of fun! Thanks to all of our many wonderful Pack 525 den leaders and cubmaster!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Busy Summer!


 Since school has been out, the boys and I have been staying SUPER busy having lots of fun!
So busy that I have not had a lot of time to blog! So here are some random pics from our summer adventures so far!


We went down to Farmington to visit the Briar Rose Bakery! A cute place with fairy tale style doors!
They had great cupcakes too!

 The weather has been great (up until this week when it has gotten HOT!) so we have enjoyed snacks and playing on the deck!

 We went to the First Friday celebration on the Bentonville Square! We checked out the WMT Vistors Center and the Walton 5 and 10. Andrew enjoyed driving Sam's truck!

 Christian is officially a "Bear" in Cub Scouts, so we went to the Cub Scout store to buy his new gear for the next year!

 The boys and I also went to the First Thursday event on the Fayetteville Square this month!
It was a lot of fun! Andrew tried on some of the Hog gear at the Vistor's Center store in Fayetteville.

 Terra Studios had a kids entertainment area on the Fayetteville Square that night. They had balloons making, face painting and art projects!
Andrew loved getting his face painted! He asked for a "blue smiley face"! 

 Susan and Ruby joined us that night and the kiddos had so much fun! I love this picture!
They made swords and shields at the kids center!

 Ruby and Andrew were so cute holding hands and walking around the festival!

 We may have to use these pics in their video presentation at their wedding! haha!

 They had great music and live entertainment! A group of drummers were playing and the kids danced around and LOVED IT!

 Andrew loved his smiley face!

 We also started the next level of swimming lessons for the boys this summer.
Andrew is now in Beginner 3s and goes to swim lessons in the pool on his own while I watch from the observation area above the pool. 

 He is really doing great!

Christian is also doing swim lessons and can now float and is doing great with his swimming skills!

 We go to our neighborhood pool a few times a week!!! So nice having a pool right around the corner from our house!

 I made a playdate schedule for our Mom's Ministry group and we open up the playdates to all moms of our church! A great way to keep in touch over the summer and get to meet new moms too!

 I took the boys to Popeye's Chicken one night before my church board meeting and they loved it!
Christian's favorite food is fried chicken! Andrew will usually eat whatever his brother is having. ;)

 Father's Day weekend, we took Jim to dinner at Las Fajitas and went to a local car show!

 The boys LOVE going to car shows as much as we do!

 Christian standing next to Tow Mater! Well, not the ACTUAL Tow Mater from Cars, but a local man who made his truck look like Tow Mater. The boys thought it was great!

 The local police dept had a Police SWAT vehicle on display and the boys got to sit in the back of it!

 A last minute playdate at the Bentonville Splash Park with friends!

 And the kiddos had fun!

 Michelle, a former member of our MM group, was in town and we got to see her and her kiddos!

 At the end of the day, the boys are pretty tired and relax on the couch together watching Top Gear!

 Andrew spent some time relaxing on the couch with me "reading a magazine"! Too cute!

 My friend Jamie (who used to work on the trade desk) that lives in NYC was in town with his two girls and I was so glad I got to see them! Audrie and Annie are getting so big!
I really hope I can work in a short trip to NYC in the next year to visit them! 

 The boys relaxing poolside after a fun MM playdate at Creekwood Pool.


Andrew just being cute! He has the great personality! Such a goofball! 
Well, the summer is almost half over and we still have LOTS of fun things coming up!
Stay tuned! :)